🌐 Location: Tokorozawa, Saitama

The Jungyo took us today to rainy Saitama.

There are many rikishi hailing from Saitama, with three current sekitori – Abi, Daieisho and Hokutofuji. In the nobori in the above picture you can see many Hokutofuji flags, one for the absent Abi, one for Daieisho (and one for the… NSK’s Jungyo department? OK…). Hokutofuji comes not just from Saitama, but specifically from Tokorozawa, which made him king of the day.

And as befits a king, he arrived an nothing less than a Corvette:

北勝富士関(@hokutofujidaiki)、会場入り。 #sumo pic.twitter.com/qCuFc93BAH

— 相撲大好き (@ryogokulove) August 6, 2018

And his driver was wearing a matching outfit, no less. Remember that rikishi are not allowed to drive (remember Osunaarashi?).

Even before this, he had a pep rally sponsored by his personal support group:

Note the guy in the audience who is wearing a shirt made of that same Hokutofuji yukata cloth.

On the dohyo, Kakuryu decided to give him no less that 8 minutes of butsukari:

No footage of the deed itself, but you can see the results of it in this little clip:

鶴竜関との、猛烈な稽古後#2018年 #所沢場所 #巡業 #大相撲 #sumo #北勝富士 pic.twitter.com/mAm07i0qa3

— ひよの富士(うたかたのおんな) (@osumo_twi) August 7, 2018

Kudos for still being a nice guy and shaking that spectator’s hand.

Later he starred in the hair styling show:

And had a bout with Endo. I mean, the torikumi guys seem to always assign the star of the day to Endo. Kill two birds with one stone, I guess. Which means that Endo has been losing a lot of bouts lately. This one Hokutofuji won by Yori-Kiri.

OK, wait a second. This is like Groundhog Day. A wardrobe malfunction again? This is the third time I see one (and I haven’t seen all of Endo’s bouts). I think Konosuke is starting to get a little exasperated. Endo is growing too thick for his own shimekomi? Or his tsukebito is due for a lesson in knot tying from some seasoned sailor (I recommend Aminishiki).

In non-Hokutofuji news, Hidenoumi decided to go get some health boost. Rikishi seem to believe in all sorts of weird health claims and alternative treatments. And this visit was to a “cryo sauna”, or “Whole body cryotherapy”:

初めてなんで美ノ海に撮ってもらいました！興味湧いた方は是非！笑 pic.twitter.com/kpMfy0R5tQ

— 英乃海 拓也 (@I7jQY4qo2io47YG) August 7, 2018

Those are degrees celsius. This footage was taken by Churanoumi, BTW.

In addition to the famous sekitori from Saitama, Baraki from Shikihide beya and his brother, Rao from Tatsunami beya, made an appearance in this Jungyo event. I think they just came in for the day, as Saitama is not far from Tokyo:

Kisenosato continued to do san-ban with exactly the same results as yesterday – 12 wins, 2 losses, mostly against Daieisho, yet another local boy. Far from perfect yet, the papers say. When his rival gets a right hand inside, the Yokozuna is still helpless.

稀勢の里💕💕💕💕💕 pic.twitter.com/1lgdH1zA8i

— つばき (@jadetsubaki) August 7, 2018

The goofy part of the day included Terutsuyoshi getting very intimate with Yago. You do remember who Yago is, right? :-)

But the pixie’s aim was not to get his face caressed, but rather to lift Yago. And here are the results:

Mitakeumi decided to give Kaisei a pretty hairdo. Only… he wasn’t doing the hair on his head:

Fine, fine, you want to see some sumo. Here is today’s Kakuryu vs. Kisenosato:

稀勢の里 対 鶴竜 ②
がんばれー🚩😃🚩 pic.twitter.com/2f0vloST48

— つばき (@jadetsubaki) August 7, 2018

That’s it for the day in Saitama. Here is your Enho du jour: